Participants
from 15 countries attended a June 2004 RAP about mobile
exhibits hosted by Technopolis, the Flemish Science
Center, BelgiumMore

ASTC RAPs (Roundtables for Advancing
the Professions) provide a forum for museum professionals
to network, learn together, and expand their knowledge base. Hosted
by ASTC-member institutions worldwide, these small-group weekend
intensives have covered a wide range of topics—from camp-ins
and youth programs to information-technology trends and outdoor
science parks. Participation fees, which help to defray
host museum costs, are generally U.S.$50 for employees of ASTC-member institutions
and U.S.$100 for nonmembers.

February 26, 2009 1pm EasternImagine Math as a Vehicle for Your Community Partnerships Webinar

Increasingly, after-school hours are central to providing students with good science and math experiences. Collaborations between science-technology centers and community-based after-school programs can help. How can science centers build capacity in mathematics for local after-school programs?
This webinar will highlight a math program, used by local community partners, to create opportunities to enhance students' math skills in fun, interactive and minds-on ways.

Come hear and share information about successful collaborative math projects, develop strategies for forming your own local partnerships, and learn about the successful collaborative models After-School Math PLUS, an NSF-funded program developed by the Educational Equity Center at AED in conjunction with staff from the New York Hall of Science and the Saint Louis Science Center.

Heureka, the Finnish Science Centre, and ASTC invite you to participate in a one-day seminar on the future of science centers. An international expert panel will participate in two two-hour discussions before a live audience of science center professionals. The goal of the seminar is to provide an informed outside perspective to science centers on how they can increase their relevancy by addressing critical societal issues, locally and globally, where science understanding and public engagement are essential. The seminar will be taped so the material can be shared more widely.
Questions to be debated:

What, in your opinion, are the three most challenging issues facing human life on earth today and in the future?

How do you see the role of science in helping to solve these challenges?

What could science centers and museums do to engage citizens more effectively in the debate and action needed?

The Girls, Math & Science Partnership (GMSP) invite you is dedicated to engaging, educating and embracing girls as architects of change. We'll share one of our newest tools, The Girl Solution: A Gender Equity Toolkit, for program and professional development managers, afterschool providers and mentors. This kit includes materials specifically designed to appeal to girls and the distinct way they learn math and science. The Girl Solution uses a relationship science-based methodology and features many useful tools. This RAP will train you on the techniques provided in the toolkit and teach you how to become a trainer for The Girl Solution in your area. This RAP consists of two sessions—June 8th and 9th from 3:00-4:30 pm Eastern.

July 10–11, 2009Exhibition Evaluation: Strategies for Implementing the Results of Visitor Studies
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California

Does evaluation seem too costly, too time-consuming, or worse, not worthwhile? This RAP presents two recent projects in which evaluation played a critical role in exhibition development through assessing visitor engagement and comprehension. The exhibitions, one botanical and one historical, each went on to receive the Excellence in Exhibitions awards from the American Association of Museums, in part due to the evaluation process.

In this intensive workshop, you will visit both exhibitions and learn the evaluation processes that supported exhibition development. Staff will discuss how they used evaluation to meet their own goals and implement specific changes.
Use this professional training RAP to learn about the methods, pitfalls, and actions taken by the development teams with the goal of developing clear strategies for evaluating your own exhibitions. The RAP has an optional dinner on Friday and breakfast and lunch on Saturday.

Join the Girls, Math & Science Partnership (GMSP) to learn more about Click!, a six-day camp for middle school girls that pairs location-aware mobile devices and high-tech computers with a complex scientific mystery.

This webinar will describe the development of the Click! trilogy and focus specifically on girls’ use of technology during the camps. This RAP includes discussion of the curriculum, while learning about the latest technologies available and how girls can utilize them. This is a perfect opportunity for those interested in purchasing the Click! modules to learn more about the philosophy, education, and technology behind delivering a successful Click! camp at your own institution.